BOOM: why India's economy can't be ignored

India has the world’s second largest population (after China). The country’s economy is growing at a rapid rate, causing many U.S. businesses to consider this market for future product sales. As India’s middle class rises, discretionary purchases will become much more prominent.

We often think of India as a location for outsourcing, particularly within the Information Technology industry. This is due to the “Y2K” scare at the turn of the century when U.S. businesses were frantically searching for enough IT experts to assist with the problem, at the lowest possible cost. Y2K was India’s opportunity to prove that their technicians could not only solve the IT issues involved, but to do so at a reasonable price.

Outsourcing customer service to India is also on the rise. Who hasn’t called a help line and spoken to someone with a foreign accent? This trend has ultimately resulted in less expenses for many U.S. companies, which is then passed onto the customer.

Should we be outraged because U.S. jobs are being transferred overseas? Many would say “YES”!!!! But, the reality of the situation is that many more jobs are created within our own market due to an increase in global trade. Furthermore, we save money when goods cost less. Additionally, the outsourcing phenomena has created much more disposable income throughout India. We should view this as an opportunity to sell our products within the Indian market.

To learn how to sell to India, visit www.identifyglobal.com or contact Kelly Kasic directly: kelly@identifyglobal.com

Regional Economic Integration

Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) were developed following the rise of Bilateral Agreements. RTAs are trade agreements that involve two or more countries confined to a common region. Countries in close proximity tend to form trade agreements because of similar consumer tastes and shorter travel distance. Two types of RTAs are Free Trade Agreements and the Customs Union. As regional economic integration reduces trade barriers; producing static and dynamic effects.

Static effects are efficiencies that are formed through trade creation and diversion. In trade creation, barriers are broken down and production becomes more efficient because of comparative advantage. Trade diversion occurs because trade shifts to the countries that are members of the RTA, even if non-member countries are more efficient with no trade barriers. Dynamic effects occur when the overall size of the market increases due to the elimination of trade restrictions. When RTAs are established, and trade barriers between the countries are eliminated, the size of the market for a particular company grows from its home country to include all of the RTA member countries.

By Carl Phelps, Research Associate for GLOBAL ID, LLC.

For additional information, please visit our website: www.identifyglobal.com

How Cultural Difference Affect Business

Cultural differences are one of the key components companies must consider when expanding abroad. Culture is made up of attitudes, beliefs, and values that are shared by a certain group of people. These behavioral differences greatly affect how businesses operate as companies need to be aware of many aspects within a particular culture. For example, different social class systems can change what types of people the company should use in their marketing campaigns in order to reach their target market. There are several cultural factors that companies should consider when conducting business in a foreign society:

• Performance Orientation
• Gender Attitudes
• Age Attitudes
• Family Attitudes
• Occupation Perception
  

Companies need to be aware of cultural differences both in how they market their product and in hiring their employees. Cultural differences can affect employee performance due to differences in attitudes such as motivation, expectation, and assertiveness. Generally, people of dissimilar cultures are motivated differently. Some are motivated by material goods whereas others may be motivated by leisure time. This is an important factor in learning how to get the most out of a group of employees who are ethnically diverse. In urban Chinese cities many laborers that have migrated from rural areas are more motivated by gift cards to McDonalds than by overtime or pay raises, this is because these migrant workers must send their money to the families in the country-side.

By: Carl Phelps, Research Associate for GLOBAL ID, LLC.

Company Orientation Towards Cultural Diversity

The attitudes of companies and managers can affect how they successfully adapt to foreign cultures. Polycentrism is one type of attitude towards cultural diversity in which the company believes that its business units must act as close to its local competitors as possible. The problem with a Polycentric orientation is that the company can become too cautious about certain countries and pass up good opportunities. Also, home-country practices may actually work well in a foreign country, and a company that is too Polycentric will never apply any of its home-country practices to its business units abroad.

Another management orientation towards cultural diversity is Ethnocentrism. This is the belief that what works in the home-country should work in the host-country as well. The problem with Ethnocentrism is that it ignores important cultural variables in the foreign country. Sometimes, companies understand the environmental factors, but fail to change their objectives to fit the foreign market. This results in a loss of long-term competitiveness in the foreign country as the business unit cannot perform as well as its local competitors.

Geocentrism is a third orientation that is between the extremes of Polycentrism and Ethnocentrism. This approach is when the company adapts to the cultural differences abroad while also adopting some of the practices that are successful within the home market. This allows the company to increase its innovation as well as success rate in its international operations.

Written by Carl Phelps, Research Associate for GLOBAL ID, LLC.

For additional information on Cultural Diversity email: info@identifyglobal.com

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Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade

There are two categories of nontariff barriers to trade: direct price influences and quantity controls. Direct price influences are similar to tariffs in that they raise the prices of goods in order to limit trade. Subsidies are perhaps the most well-known type of direct price influence. Subsidies are used to protect domestic industries and keep them competitive. The government makes a direct payment to their domestic companies to give them assistance for selling abroad. Countries also offer their domestic industries tools such as market information and foreign contacts. Aid and loans are another form of direct price influence. This occurs when a government gives aid to another country, usually in the form of tied aid, which requires the country to spend the funds in the donor country. A third form of direct price influence is customs valuation. This occurs when customs agents are instructed to use discretionary power to value goods too high, which may require them to pay a higher ad valorem tariff and increase overall price.

The most common quantity control used is the quota. Import quotas prohibit the quantity of a product that can be imported in a given year. This puts a ceiling on the supply of foreign made products, and therefore restricts trade. The voluntary export restraint (VER) is when one country asks a foreign country to “voluntarily” restrict its exports into their country. This is really not voluntary at all, as the importing country will impose tougher trade restrictions if the foreign country does not limit its exports. An embargo is a type of quota in which a country prohibits all trade from a particular country or on a particular product. Another type of quantity control is standards and labels. Countries can impose tougher standards for product safety which will prohibit imports from foreign countries. Other forms of quantity controls include specific permission requirements, administrative delays, reciprocal requirements, and “buy local” legislation.

Written by Carl Phelps, Research Associate for GLOBAL ID, LLC.
www.identifyglobal.com